Road Trip: Southwest

Day 17: Thursday, May 08, 2025 - Denver, CO

Day's statistics:
Weather: mid 70s
Steps: Steve 10,215; Linda 7,628
Travel: 138 miles

Breakfast was a buffet with eggs and sausage.
I neglected to get a picture because it was busy - I think this was the largest hotel we stayed in this trip.

This was our last full day of the trip. 😞
Today we would visit our fourth and final capital of the trip.
I took the large luggage out to the car now so that I wouldn't have to deal with it tomorrow.
After putting the luggage in the trunk - OH MY GOODNESS!
This is a massive stitch of five panorama pictures to make a really, REALLY wide shot.

This is one of the ones from the above stitch, to help show the detail without having to zoom or anything like that.

Even though it was less than 20 miles to the capital, it took about 45 minutes to get their due to traffic.
We weaved through the city to get to the destination as the GPS suggested this as the less-conjested route, though it was through a more industrial area, but eventually into the city that was full of interesting architecture and artwork.










We found the visitor's parking, and headed inside - but not without taking our selfie first.





Security told us that the stamp was available in the gift shop - our fourth of four of this trip, bringing our total to 41 in all.


This shoeshine stand looked like it was still in use (though not right now, but the session was over for the year).

A number of us were gathering for the 10:00 tour. It was supposed to be capped at 20, but we had closer to 30.
Our guide was Cindi and she took us to one of the wings to begin the tour.
We learned that the architect that designed this capital also designed the Texas and Michigan capitals too; the light fixtures were original; all the western rivers start in the Colorado mountains; and there are 35 senators and 65 representatives with a majority - 51 - of them being female, a first in the US, and they all have term limits.



In this wing, the walls are rose onyx marble, and the floors are granite floors.



And we moved about the capital, even going up a floor too.






Three tries with a camera, and two with a cell phone, and we still couldn't get a really good picture of this - probably because of the strong background lighting and the focusing on the reflection and not the key itself.
Between us we thought we got a usable image, so I took no notes on the key because I normally would have used the infornation on the placard.

And continuing on.



We saw completely across the capital.



The Senate was the first chamber we visited.





Then the House.



Lastly, the Supreme Court.


We also saw completely across the capital, in the other direction this time.
.





In the main rotunda, there were the portraits of the presidents - save for one, who didn't think the portrait was flattering enough to suit his fragile ego. Because, you know, his portrait in a state capital is SO important...
(They are obviously not all pictured here.)


We heard some bells ringing, and we asked Cindi about it and she indicated that they may be testing their system because they use the bells to signal to the legistatures that it is time to return for a vote.
At this point, the regular tour was over. Some of us were given the opportunity to go up to the dome and also onto the roof. Cindi was not able to bring us up there and we had to briefly wait for someone else. Then the rest of us made our way up a narrow staircase, and, first, to the dome.



After making our way to the "balcony", we had a chance to look down.




Then it was time to go out on the roof. When we got out there, I started to make a lap around for the views, unbeknownst to me at the time that she was going to be giving a history lesson about the views - so I missed some of it.
There were a couple directional markers, but in at least one case, the mountain (Devils Head) wasn't even visible.


It was easy to see some of the mountains in the distance.

Some of the nearby buildings, including the Populus Hotel, which is purported to be the first carbon positive (meaning "it sequesters more carbon than it emits") hotel in the US.

While we were on the roof, we could hear that the bells that were thought to be inside were actually from the Catholic Church - the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception - right over there. It turns out that a new Pope had been elected - Pope Leo - a little while before, after Pope Francis had died.

Some more of the views around the roof.





After our tour, we headed to the small park across the street - but first we HAD to stand at the mile-high spot beforehand.
[Historically] First, there was a brass marker put in the stairs that marked the mile-high spot.

Then technology improved and it was determined that that wasn't quite the spot. So they engraved in the steps "One Mile Above Sea Level".

Buuuut eventually technology determined that THAT also wasn't quite the spot. Now, the third marker is supposedly the true (for reals, this time) Mile High spot. (I think everyone knows whose feet are whose.) (And I took this while leaning over from the step, trying to get our feet and the marker.)


Then it was finally time to head across the street - and we passed by a monument in front of the capital first.



In the park was a statue and <golly!> the Liberty Bell replica!


We made our way back toward the capital, as we were parked on the other side of it.

As we may or may not have been legally legitimately parked, we chose to drive the short distance to the cathedral so we could minimize any ticket risks.
We parked in the open lot across the street from the cathedral that may or may not have had a "pay at the kiosk" meter, and as we were walking in, I noticed someone was getting into their car - so I hustled back to the car and moved it to the on the street, two-hour limit parking. Perfect.


We entered the cathedral through the side door, and there were actually quite a few people there, most of them praying. Those that weren't praying included a priest and a news crew that was interviewing the priest about the election of the new Pope.
I turned the camera shutter off (aka "silent shutter") and tried to nonchalantly take some pictures of the inside.

It was time we headed to lunch. We traveled through the city and to the Butcher Block Café.


We sat at a booth by a window, and reviewed the menu.



Linda had a turkey (which was sliced fresh roasted turkey) on wheat toast with a side of baked bean soup, and I had a smothered burger with fries.

After lunch we did some more sightseeing in the city.
The Blue Bear, at fourty feet tall - there are people sitting on a bench to the right in the first image showing perspective, was at the convention center.


Union Station was the next drive-by.

As we decided to take it a little easy this day, we paid a visit to the public library.

The children's wing - where the more interesting set-ups tend to be - was right off the entrance to the right.
There was an enclosure that had pinwheels in it, and an oscelating fan that caused the pinwheels to spin.

Similar to audio books, these PlayAway® devices play... audio books. It is just that these devices are geared toward and dedicated to kids (though I am sure there are adult versions too).

And elsewhere in the children's section.



And then elsewhere in the library.





It turns out that we wound up on the block diagonally away - similar to the cathedral, but in the other direction - from the capital. The library is the red brick building behind the the domed-roofed building in the last city view image a little bit above.
We were able to see the dome outside the library over the outdoor rooftop garden.



Eventually we headed back to the car.

The photographing stopped for the day even though it was only 2:22 PM.
We were starting to unwind as our trip was coming to an end, so rather than go to the botanical gardens or try to squeeze something else in this afternoon, we headed back to the hotel - which itself took a bit more than a half hour.
When we arrived at the hotel, we walked over to the Starbucks® that was on the other side of the parking lot of the parking lot adjacent to the hotel's parking lot.
We got a coffee "for here" since it is served in a ceramic mug rather than a disposable cup.
We hung out and played some games on our phones.

After the coffee, we headed to the room to finish up cheese and salami tray, and the bottle of wine.
We played some pinocle, watched some TV, and eventually went to bed.

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